You know how you breathe on a screen to give it a little moisture before wiping away a fingerprint? I tried this with the nano texture display on the M4 MacBook Pro and I thought I had permanently damaged the display.

It was just a tiny fingerprint. I breathed on the spot and attempted to wipe it away with the included polishing cloth that came in the MacBook Pro box. Instead of wiping it away, I effectively grabbed the smudge with the cloth and spread it all around the display. The more I rubbed, the more the smudge spread across the display.

I almost freaked out.

Good (but expensive) news, though: Apple sells a superior polishing cloth capable of removing smudges that the included polishing cloth can’t remove. I have one of these cloths from the nano texture Studio Display, but you can pick one up on its own. It’s $19 USD ($25 CAD), so you’ll have to grit your teeth when you hit the buy button.

But it worked like a charm. No need for a cleaning solution or moisture. Just a swift wipe and the display-wide smudge was gone.

Of all things, I didn’t expect Apple to require an upsell on a polishing cloth.